Forever Horse

We sat round the campfire on a late summers eve

A little coffee and whiskey to ward off the chill

The day’s work was done. The calves had been branded

And except for the coyotes the evening was still

I was young but bone tired and the newest man there

Had rode for that brand just a few weeks or so

Didn’t shirk any duty, paid my dues with the crew

I was eager to learn what I didn’t yet know

After biscuits and beans and bully beef supper

We sat in the quiet makin small talk and jokes

A few lies and tall tales made conversin quite pleasant

Then without a preamble an old cowboy spoke

“The old tribe just called him the Forever Horse”

He said in a voice that was clear as the sky

And I grinned at the thought of another yarn loomin

But my grin went away when I caught the boys’ eyes

“They’ve heard this’n before”, I thought to myself

But they sit still and quiet as if holding their breath

Perhaps it’s a tale of something quite different

Maybe trouble or mystery or could it be death

So I sat still as they did and turned my eyes to him

And he spoke once again in a cadence quite strange

“He was strong as the Black Hills and the color of sunlight

When it breaks in the morn over on the Front Range

All the warriors wanted that mount as their own

And they tried many times to accomplish that goal

But no tracking could find him, no Brave could get near

As he guarded his large herd of mares and foals

From a distance they’d see him on a mesa or bluff

And the bravest would go in pursuit but in vain

Always just out of reach and beyond the next rise

No one would possess him, he belonged to the plains

As the warriors grew old, their sons joined the hunt

But the Forever Horse was the cold wind that blew

And no man could catch him, he remained free and wild

And over the years his legend still grew

When the cavalry came and moved the tribe south

Forever Horse taunted them with fire in his eyes

And they proudly pursued him as the warriors had done

But their ropes could not touch him and how they did try

As the stars passed overhead year after year

Forever Horse still ruled the plains like a king

The tribe would remember his spirit in song

In the late summer nights they would sing

"As long as Forever Horse runs fast and free

Then the tribe will stay strong and pray to his spirit

His proud voice will echo from the grasslands and hills

Believe in the old ways and your heart may still hear it”

“That’s a story my daddy told”, the old cowboy said

As he refilled his cup and sat back again

“When you check your remuda later on this dark night

Forever Horse might call to you on the wind”

Now I ain’t sayin that you’ll hear him at all

Maybe nothing out there in that long western dark

But you might catch his voice in the starlit night sky

And if so, then maybe you have good heart

“Most folks just won’t hear him”, he said as he rose

“Could be it’s a silly old story of course

But once as a young lad, out there late at night

I could swear that I heard the Forever Horse”

It was long years ago and many miles back

That I heard that tale told on a late evening chill

And I won’t tell you now if I’ve heard him or not

But I think, if your heart’s right, that maybe you will